Moscow—The level of confidence in the Russian President remains high, although it has dropped slightly in recent years; the same trend is being observed with respect to Russia's prime minister, sociologists from the Levada-Center told Interfax on Tuesday.
Currently, 49% of respondents believe that the head of state is quite worthy of trust (against 53% in April 2011 and 66% in November 2009). The opposite opinion is held by 13% (12% and 5%, respectively).
Russians have shown a similarly high level of trust towards the Church and other religious organizations (49%), while 9% of respondents said they do not trust them. 42% are content with their head of government (55% in 2011 and 70% in 2010), while 15% said they do not trust them (12% and 5%, respectively).
The third most trusted institution is the Russian army (41% against 15% those who responded negatively). Next are the government (30% against 17%) and state security agencies (30% against 15%). The police force is leading in the mistrust rating, with 31% against 18%. The others in the top five negatively rated institutions are local (29% against 22%) and regional authorities (25% against 22%), large businesses (25% against 14%) and trade unions (24% against 17%).
Mass media are trusted by one in four (25%) respondents (mistrusted by 17%); banks, by 22% (21%); small and medium-size business, by 22% (17%); prosecutors, by 21% (21%); courts, by 21% (24%); the Federation Council, by 21% (18%); the State Duma, by 20% (23%); and political parties, by 11% (31%). The poll was conducted by the Levada-Center among 1,525 Russians on June 1-17.